i am fairly new to this sport and would like to spool my own reel, but i could really use some help in determining how much, () backing to use,(2) how much fly line to use on my reel, (3) how much leader to use, (4) how much tippet to use. I want to tie my own knots to each and have been studying how to do that, but the amount of each line------I can't find any help. I have a #7 Orvis reel and my rod is a 9' White River Classic rated for 7 as well. Thanks

I am certainly no expert but I have been fly fishing for a number of years do spool my own reels. I generally fill my reels using the following guidelines. I use 50% of the reel capacity for the backing line. I use 25% of the reel capacity for the floating line and the rest for your tippet. I have never used a tapered tippet as I prefer using 2 or 3# leader as my tippet. I generally us a minimum of 9' of tippet.

One rule I have always heard is do not overfill your reel as you are just begging for snarls if you do. Hope this helps.

Answered on 4/18/2010 by BK from Cheyenne, WY

A:

you want about 50' of backing and about 25' of fly line. you want a 9' leader the tippet is part of the leader but i buy leaders and not tippets.